The Young Scholars/Future Leaders program organized in association with the inaugural Kaohsiung World Share/Transport Forum provided a highly innovative and useful component of the 2010 event, which we are keen on build on and extend in the future. To this end, we publish here today background information taken from the original event, as a stepping stone in the direction of bringing the entire program up to date and making it one of the key building blocks of the still to be decided 2013 World Forum. More to follow on this shortly but for now read on here.

The Jason Chang International Fellowships were established in the weeks preceding the first international conference of the World Share/Transport Forum, with the generous support of the Kokusai Kogyo Engineering and Consulting Group, Japan. A considerable number of nominations of qualified and promising young people were received from a number of countries around the world, despite the short notification period for the program. For reasons of economy, but also to keep the concentration of all concerned on our topic in a specifically Asian perspective, it was decided to limit the 2010 recipients of the Jason Chang Fellowships to applicants from the Asia region.

As you will see here, selected applicants are coming into this first international conference of the Share/Transport Forum from China, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and of course Taiwan. Just below you will find brief profiles for the 2010 award recipients, and in time you will find working papers and abstracts by them in the indicated section.

(Due to the newness of this program and initial budgetary limitations, we were unable to reach beyond the Asia region for the Fellowship program this first 2010 Share/Transport conference in Kaohsiung. However some of those candidates from other regions or who were not able to join us in 2010 have nonetheless offered to share their ideas and experience with this year’s Fellows and the conference on the topic of share/transport as seen from their national or other backgrounds. Our sincere hope will be to see at least some of these candidates either in the 2011 event in China, 2012 in India, or in the various master classes, workshops and planning sessions that are anticipated to take place with partner cities, sponsors and groups starting in 2011.)

Charina Cabrido. Environmental researcher, writer. Kathmandu, Nepal

Charina is an environmental researcher, a writer and a cycling advocate who is working for sustainable urban transport in Kathmandu, Nepal. She is currently associated with the Clean Air Initiatives for Asian Cities, an organization that is active in 8 country networks and over 170 organizational members to promote and demonstrate innovative ways to improve the air quality in Asian cities through partnerships and sharing experiences. Charina currently leads the Walkability Index Survey in Kathmandu to promote improvements in pedestrianisation infrastructures and services. She is also active in developing mass education, awareness and media campaign related to Air Quality Management issues in Nepal through the Clean Air Network Nepal. She is participating in Kaohsiung 2010 as one of our invited Future Leaders/Young Scholars from across Asia.

Yung-Hsiang Cheng. Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit. Taiwan

Dr. Yung-Hsiang Cheng is an assistant professor of the Department of Transportation and Communication Management Science at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, ROC. He holds a Ph. D. in Transportation from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussée (France). His past experiences include transportation engineer at Ministry of Transportation, Taiwan, researches at the SNCF (French National Railway Company) and assistant professor of the Department of Logistics Management, National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C. His research specialties include railway transportation, transportation management, logistics management, and public transportation. He is an advisor to Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit, Kaohsiung City Government since 2009.

Jiao Feng. Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, China

Since graduating with a Masters in Traffic Planning and Management from Tongji University, Jiaofeng has worked on ITDP’s BRT program in Guangzhou, Harbin, and Lanzhou, as ITDP’s BRT Program Coordinator. In the Guangzhou BRT, she worked with a team of top international experts together with related local agencies and institutes on detailed aspects of BRT operations design, surveys, data analysis, and BRT institutions and regulation. She was the lead author of a plan by ITDP to address parking issues along the BRT corridor, co-authored a study on parking improvements in the city centre of Harbin, and contributed to a study on bike and pedestrian facility improvements and road design in the city centre. Jiao Feng collaborated in an ADB-funded comparative study of parking in Asia, and has researched policies on public car use in China. Before joining ITDP, Jiao Feng did an internship for the China Academy of Urban Planning & Design (CAUPD) in Beijing, with a focus on public transport planning in Jinan. jiaofeng@itdp-china.org

Sandeep Gandhi. India.

Sandeep Gandhi is an Architect by profession but a public transport and NMT infrastructure expert by training. He has over twelve years experience for working in the field of BRT and NMT infrastructure planning and design. He has been associated with TRIPP, IIT Delhi, for research projects concerning transportation safety, public transport and NMT. This included the Bicycle Master Plan for Delhi and traffic calming on highways passing through towns and villages. . He has designed and implemented India’s first fully functional dedicated bicycle tracks, and the first of its kindly completely barrier free pedestrian infrastructure along the BRTS corridor in Delhi. His recent projects include development of a ‘Bicycle Infrastructure Design manual for the Indian Sub-continent and NMT infrastructure development DPR for the city of Durgapur.

Ray Y.W. Hung. Transportation Bureau. Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Ray Hung is an Associate Technical Specialist in Traffic Management Center, Transportation Bureau Kaohsiung. He holds a M.Sc. in Computer Science from University College London UK, and another Master degree in Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering. Ray has served as a hydraulic engineer in Water Resource Bureau, Kaohsiung County Government. Previously he was a civil engineer at China Engineering Consultants, Inc. (CECI), having been in charge of project management and supervision services for the construction of Kaohsiung MRT System and the Second National Freeway Taiwan. He was also a local architecture contractor for public construction in Kaohsiung. Engaged in promotion of intelligent and sustainable transportation in Kaohsiung city, Ray has been involved in the construction of Kaohsiung Public Bike System and car free activities. He is currently running an ITS project in Traffic Management Center focusing on the topics about APTS and ATIS.

Casper Hsu. Transportation Bureau. Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Casper Hsu is an officer of Transportation Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government. He graduated from National Chiao-Tung University with a major in Transportation Technology and Management (2004). Before entering the public sector, Casper joined the global enterprise, DHL, in 2005. And he was promoted as a manager in Key Account Management Department of DHL. The major accountabilities in DHL were to managing the operation of logistics warehouse, and selling logistics solution on tech. industry. Casper’s expertise includes traffic engineering, air transportation, logistics, and urban transportation planning. After three years journey in global logistics industry, Casper decided to become a civil servant, and pass the national examination in 2008. In years to come, Casper hopes to become a high-level communicator with the social and the public sector in transportation matters.

Faizan Jawed. Architect-researcher-activist. India

Faizan is a young architect-researcher-activist interested in sustainable, equitable development in the Global South. He was awarded the 2008 RIBA Norman Foster Traveling Scholarship, which enabled him to travel across 12 countries researching the “Role that Public Transport & Carbon Neutral Mobility in Shaping Sustainable Humane Habitats”. He photographed and co-directed a documentary film “Just Wheels” on the theme. Faizan works with transport research and consultancy firm – iTrans Ltd – at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He also works with the Institute for Democracy and Sustainability – an NGO in Delhi that works on links between transport, livelihood and sustainability. He is an active member of National Cyclists Union, India and also Steering Committee Member of the World Carfree Network. Currently, he is researching informal shared transit in India. He believes shared transport should be future urban transport. He looks forward to sharing & learning about it at WS/TF, Kaohsiung 2010.

Chih-Hsu Lin. Research Assistant. Taipei Taiwan

Chih-Hsu Lin is a research assistant of a taxi research group on taxi policy and technology innovation supervised by Professor S.K. Jason Chang in National Taiwan University. She obtained her BS in Civil Engineering and master degree of transportation engineering from National Taiwan University on 2008 and 2010 respectively. Her major research field focuses on evaluating ITS technology applications in taxi industry and public transportation. In the past few years, she has also been involved in some international activities, such as representing Taiwan to participates in UITP youth parliament held in Vienna and the Trilateral Students Activity (TSA) among the University of Tokyo, National Seoul University, and National Taiwan University held in Tokyo. She will help of coordinating the program of Young Scholars/Future Leaders in the Share/Transport Forum

Yutaka Matsubayashi. Kokusai Kogyo. Tokyo, Japan

Yutaka Matsubayashi is Team Leader of Geospatial Information Project Team specializing in GIS and Road Management Project. He has been involved in road projects for 14 years, and, as a specialist, is actively engaged in application of GIS and geospatial information technologies for ITS and ICT related services. He joined Kokusai Kogyo in 1996, and was seconded to the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism as a researcher on GIS data for road management project for two years. Mr. Matsubayashi has issued research papers regarding application of GIS and digital mapping information for road management and ITS on some professional publications.

Jason Ni. Taiwan.

Jason Ni is originally from Taiwan. He obtained a bachelor degree from Department of Civil Engineering of National Taiwan University (1998) and served in the Engineering Army (1998 ~ 2000). He holds Master degrees in Transportation Engineering and City Planning from University of California Berkeley (2003), and a Ph.D. in Transportation Technology and Policy from University of California Davis (2008). His dissertation is on the Motorization and Vehicle Purchase Behavior in China. Jason worked as a Transportation Planner/Engineer at Parsons Brinckerhoff, USA (2007~2010), and interned with Metropolitan Transportation Commission (2003), City of San Leandro (2004), and Dowling Associates, Inc. (2005). He also worked as Graduate Student Researcher at University of California Transportation Center (UC Berkeley, 2001 ~ 2003).

Pallavi Pant, Sustainabilty activist, India

Pallavi Pant is a researcher and holds a M.Sc. in Environmental Studies from TERI University, India. During the Masters Programme, she carried out research on stochastic air quality models in collaboration with the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), New Delhi and also worked as a research intern for a Government of NCT of Delhi project on energy and environment impact assessment for transportation systems in the city. She has also developed TERI University’s Environmental Management Plan with a group of students and has helped in establishment of the Sustainability Cell in the university. She has also spent time at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Freie University, Germany. She has done internships at WWF-India, LEAD-India and ClimateLab and has also contributed to the work of other civil society groups. She lives in New Delhi, India with her family and in her free time, she likes to read, cook, learn new languages and write poetry. For the past year, she has been working in India on issues related to transport and air pollution and is soon to start a PhD Programme at University of Birmingham, UK on air quality and human health. (Pallavi is not able to attend at the last minute, but is supporting the research component of the program and has offered to prepare a reflection on it at the end.)

“I’m a lapsed engineer from India who found that making cars was not as much fun as getting rid of them. This discovery brought me to Rutgers University, where I am currently doing my masters in City and Regional Planning and assisting Voorhees Transportation Center in its research. I spend my free time listening to Indian Classical Music, playing bridge or reading one of Jane Austen’s novels for the millionth time.” Karthik organizes (some of) his thoughts on the blog “India lives in her cities too!” at http://vishwakarman.wordpress.com/. He is not able to attend the conference this year but has taken a rain-check and in the meantime is submitting at least one article and reflection on sharing in transport, including on India’s streets.)

Jittichai Rudjanakanoknad. Chulalongkorn University. Thailand

Jittichai Rudjanakanoknad is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, one of the most reputable universities in Thailand. He received his Doctoral Degree in Civil Engineering, majoring in Transportation Engineering, from the University of California at Berkeley, USA, in 2005. Upon his Ph.D. graduation, he joined the Parsons Brinkerhoff as a senior transportation planner and traffic engineer in Los Angeles branch. In 2007, he accepted a lecturer position at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and was promoted to be an assistant professor in 2009. He has taught several courses in transportation and traffic engineering field and published articles on ridesharing. He also assists several Thai authorities by conducting research projects regarding traffic safety and traffic mitigations involving ridesharing programs

Sebastian Schlebusch. Planet Green Bikes. India/Germany.

Sebastian Schlebusch just obtained his diploma degree in human geography in August 2010 from Munster University, Germany. Throughout his studies he focused on urbanisation processes in Indian megacities. During his involvement with GTZ-SUTP (German Technical Cooperation – Sustainable Urban Transport Policies) Sebastian has analysed the correlation of lifestyle and multi-modality among people having access to new forms of mobility like bicycle sharing systems and BRT-corridors in Delhi. For the last six years he was engaged in public awareness campaigns for “Friends of the Earth Germany” in order to spread sustainable lifestyles among people in Germany. Sebastian has started to work as an advisor for Planet Green Bikes, the first operational bicycle rental scheme in Indian metropolises. Based on the results from his empirical work, he is strongly convinced about the enormous potential of bicycle sharing schemes among India’s urban population.

Tonny Agus Setiono. Ministry of Transportation. Indonesia.

I graduated from Traffic academy in Bekasi for Bachelor degree (1993) and master degree in transportation from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta Indonesia (2002). I worked in Local Transport Authority City of Bandung (1994-2006), land transport safety in Jakarta (2006-2008) and Urban Traffic in Jkaarta (2008-now). Lecturer Indonesia Education University in Bandung (2004-2005) and Road and Traffic College in Bekasi (2007-2009). My personal responsibilities are to preparing policy and institutional matters in urban traffic for a national level, preparing policy, standard, procedure and technical guideline of urban traffic, providing technical assistance of urban traffic, preparing the implementation of data collection and traffic management analysis. i involve in public transport, urban traffic, ITS and NMT projects. This include public transport and parking minimum service standard, ITS National Policy, ticketing system, bicycle, pedestrian, traffic devices, Electronic Road Pricing and transport demand management guideline.

Jane has advocated public transportation and the disowning of car culture for the past decade, when life in Los Angeles presented her with the choice of driving with debt or getting on the bus. She chose the latter and as of 2004 has resided in China, where she co-founded and edits Chengdu’s only English-language city magazine (www.chengdoo-magazine.com) and website (www.gochengdoo.com), slipping in as many carfree pieces as a city magazine can tolerate. She shies away from the words “sustainable” and “green,” although the color of some of Chengdu’s buses are, in fact, green, as is her bicycle. Here K2010 topic interests include the sessions looking at bikesharing, streetsharing and the “fine art of sharing”. –> [More]

Milton Wang.Traffic Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government. Taiwan

Milton is an officer of Traffic Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government. He holds master degree in Transportation Management from National Chiao Tung University (2004). And he obtained a bachelor degree from Department of Civil Engineering of National Central University (2002). Milton has worked in Parking Management Center of Traffic Bureau since 2006. His major accountabilities include parking management, parking area outsourcing and making parking policy in urban area, etc. Previously , her was a production planner in optoelectronics industry (2004~2006). He is interested in bikesharing facility in Kaohsiung. Moreover, he is also a cycling advocate. Early this year, he cycled 1200 kilometers around Taiwan in only 8 days. To encourage more people to travel in Kaohsiung by mass transportation, he created a website introducing numerous ways of exploring Kaohsiung by MRT and public bike.

Hua Zhang, Lanzhou University, PR.China

Hua Zhang is a Ph.D candidate of Lanzhou University, China. While a doctoral candidate, she received a variety of awards, including the First Rank Scholarship of Lanzhou University, the National Second Class Scholarship of China, and the Outstanding Graduate Student Scholarship. She performed a two-year survey on informal carsharing in Beijing, China from 2005 to 2007, and published some papers on this topic. She conducted research as a visiting Doctoral student in the Sustainable Transportation Research Center (TSRC) in University of California, Berkeley from 2008 to September 2010. Her research at TSRC focuses primarily on bikesharing all over the world, especially attention was given to the world’s biggest bikesharing system in Hangzhou, China. She will be participating in our Future Leaders/Young Researchers program, and will be making contributions in the carshare and bikeshare sessions.

Nan Zou. Professor, Shandong University, China

Nan Zou is a professor of School of Control Science and Engineering at Shandong University in China. He received his Doctoral degree from the University of Maryland, USA. In the past ten years, he has provided consulting and advisory services to the state and federal governments in United States on optimization of transportation management and safety improvement. In the recent years, he worked closely with the central, provincial and city municipal governments in China with focuses on bringing the concept of sustainable development to China and improving the service quality of public transportation systems. His works involve revising city transport plan, optimizing the development of public transportation system, as well as improving the efficiency of the public transportation system with advanced intelligent transportation systems and information technologies.